Various techniques for remote management of a host computer are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,035 describes methods and apparatus for diagnosing and correcting faults in a host computer having a central processing unit (CPU) and ancillary units. The apparatus is in two parts: a first part in the form of a service card to be coupled to the host computer and operable to disable the CPU and operate and/or interrogate the ancillary units, and a second part in the form of a remote support station to be coupled to the first part and operable to diagnose faults in the computer through the first part and to effect at least some corrective measures through the first part. The first and second parts are located remote from each other and connected by a telecommunication link such as through modems.
The sorts of capabilities that were envisioned in the above patent have been standardized in the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) specifications, which provide management and monitoring capabilities independently of the host CPU, firmware, and operating system. IPMI defines a set of interfaces used by system administrators for out-of-band management of computer systems and monitoring of their operation. IPMI enables the administrator to manage a computer, even when it is powered off or otherwise unresponsive, by using a network connection to a baseboard management controller (BMC) in the computer, rather than to the operating system or login shell. The BMC, which is typically implemented as a specialized microcontroller embedded on the motherboard of the computer, manages the interface between system management software and platform hardware.